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Sports / Recreation

Volleyball advances to Sweet 16 in Minneapolis

Updated December 10, 2009

The Colorado State volleyball team did something it hadn't accomplished in six seasons on Friday night at Moby Arena, when the Rams defeated Washington, 3-1, to earn a trip to the regional semifinal of the NCAA tournament.

In front of 2,750 raucous fans at Moby Arena, the Rams stormed out to a 2-0 lead on the Huskies, a perennial power from the Pac-10 conference. Photo by Dan Byers.

CSU vs. Minnesota Friday night

CSU next faces the Minnesota Golden Gophers (26-8) at the Sports Pavilion on the Twin Cities campus Friday night. The No. 11-seed Golden Gophers beat the Lady Vols on Tennessee’s home court in Knoxville, Saturday night.

Regional final Saturday night

The Rams will face the host team, 11th-seeded Minnesota (26-8), at 6 p.m. MT Friday, for a chance to meet either No. 3-seeded Florida State (30-2) or Kentucky (29-4) in the regional final on Saturday at 6 p.m. MT.

The Seminoles and Wildcats play prior to the Rams and Golden Gophers, at 4 p.m. MT on Friday.

The regional finals, national semifinals and the championship match will be televised nationally. The regional finals will air on ESPNU, while the national semifinals and championship match will air live on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com.

Rams down Huskies 3-1 at Moby, earn trip to Minneapolis

Head Coach Tom Hilbert. Photo by Dan Byers.

The Colorado State volleyball team did something it hadn’t accomplished in six seasons on Friday night at Moby Arena, when the Rams defeated Washington, 3-1, to earn a trip to the regional semifinal of the NCAA tournament.

In front of 2,750 raucous fans at Moby Arena, the Rams stormed out to a 2-0 lead on the Huskies, a perennial power from the Pac-10 conference, and used a match-high 19 kills from Danielle Minch and 13 more from Jacque Davisson to hold on for the 3-1 victory, stunning the 64-team tournament’s No. 6 seed, UW.

Came out fired-up

“We just came out fired-up,” said Minch of the Rams’ quick start. “They’re a great team and we came out wanting to play great.”

The Rams did just that, but it was the maturity and composure of the team that really set the CSU apart.

“They just continue to achieve and compete,” said Head Coach Tom Hilbert. “We came out and we played with a lot of aggression and maturity. We were the ones that stayed composed tonight and I can’t say enough about this crowd.”

Crowd firmly behind Rams (Thank you!)

Defensively, the Rams held Washington to .225 hitting, including a percentage of .000 in the opening set. Photo by Dan Byers.

With the crowd firmly behind CSU, and the noise and altitude affecting Washington’s serves, the Rams bounced back from a 25-21 setback in the third set to clinch the match 25-19 behind five kills each from Davisson and Minch in Set 4.

Washington committed 16 service errors in the match to go along with three aces, while the Rams held a distinct advantage, tallying four aces to just three mistakes from the service line.

"That was perfect"

“I’m very excited, I’m shaking,” said senior Tessa Nelson. “That was perfect. I couldn’t have asked for a better year.”

Nelson, a native of Balaton, Minn., just 166 miles away from the regional site in Minneapolis, tallied eight kills for the Rams, to go along with three blocks, tying for team-high honors.

Redshirt sophomore Megan Plourde, who grew up less than 40 miles away from Minneapolis in Somerset, Wis., also notched three blocks, as did Katelyn Steffan, native of Dickinson, N.D., 522 miles from Minneapolis.

Teamwork

Defensively, the Rams held Washington to .225 hitting, including a percentage of .000 in the opening set. Senior libero Katelin Batten tallied a match-high 18 digs, while Davisson topped off a double-double performance with 14 digs of her own. Junior Audrey Hemmings added eight digs and freshman Dana Cranston tallied seven, to go along with six assists.

The victory gives the Rams a fifth consecutive victory over a ranked opponent at Moby Arena dating back to 2007. Photo by Dan Byers.

Sophomore setter Evan Sanders led the Rams with 39 assists on the night, as the Rams hit .254 and tallied 55 kills, while giving away just 52 to Washington.

Success with ranked opponents

The victory avenges NCAA losses to the Huskies in 2002, 2005 and 2006, and gives the Rams a fifth consecutive victory over a ranked opponent at Moby Arena dating back to 2007.

Washington, who was a set away from the final four last season, had dispatched No. 5 UCLA and No. 6 Stanford in the past month.